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✏️ Preparing For and Ranking Internships

Internship interviews are about to be assigned! This morning, you will rank all the internships based on your preference. You are expected to complete this task by noon today. Career services staff will begin assigning interviews this afternoon.

Internship Matchmaking Process​

The following section details how students and internship companies are matched, including everything you must do before being assigned an internship.

Considerations​

First off, keep the following considerations about the internship matchmaking process in mind:

  • Companies will drop out or join the process outside of our schedule. It's simply the nature of the tech industry. Companies sometimes encounter unexpected speed bumps or surprise projects, and these changes don't always happen on our time line. This is entirely normal and happens every time.
  • Companies will sometimes reschedule interviews. Once again, this is the nature of the tech industry, especially given the number of startups we work with. Your interviewer may be responsible for many different roles in their company. Do not be surprised or alarmed if there's a last-minute reschedule. It's important to be flexible. We'll work with the company to reschedule.
  • Rankings are a two-way street. Companies have just as much say as students in the placement process. You may not receive your top choice. However, we do take a lot of time and care ensuring students receive internships as high on their preference list as possible.

Once again, it's important to be flexible!

Internship Companies​

Internship companies are now available to view in Epicenter. You'll rank all internships based on your preference by noon today.

Each of these companies has agreed to offer students 30+ hours per week of development experience as well as 30+ hours per week of a professional developer available to you as a mentor. You can view a sample of the Internship Agreement each company signs here.

Take the time to read each internship description carefully, research each company, and make informed decisions about where you'd like to interview!

Ranking Process​

After all internships have been posted, we'll provide a deadline to finish ranking all companies. Rankings are submitted through Epicenter. Below are instructions for the ranking process:

  • Drag and drop the companies on the internship page from first to last choice. Leave companies that are not taking interns from your language at the bottom.
  • Only rank companies taking interns from your class.
  • Internships in your city (and its immediate surroundings) can be assumed to be in-person internships, unless stated otherwise.
  • Internships with locations not in your city (or its immediate surroundings) can be assumed to be remote, unless stated otherwise.
  • Include additional written feedback only if one of the following reasons prevent you from working at a potential internship. We'll make the necessary accommodations:
  • You are unable to work a remote internship. This will usually only occur if you don't have regular access to a computer and internet network for remote work.
  • You are unable to travel to the location of an in-person internship.

Interview Assignments​

After students have submitted their rankings, you will be assigned roughly 3-5 companies to interview with. If you followed all of the directions above, at least two should be companies you ranked highly!

Sending Cover Letters & Other Information​

Along with interview assignments, you'll also be provided contact information for interviewers. You'll send the following to each, in the format described, by the deadline provided:

  • Cover Letter: Placed in the body of the email and attached as a PDF.
  • LinkedIn Profile: Include a link in the contact information section of your cover letter.
  • Github Profile: Include a link in the contact information section of your cover letter.
  • Transcript: Attached to the email as a PDF file. (The transcript includes your attendance record.)
  • Resume: Attached to the email as a PDF file.

Creating a PDF File for Your Transcript (Including Attendance Records)​

You can create a PDF document of your transcript, which includes your attendance record, by clicking view transcript from your profile on Epicenter. Select print and, instead of sending the document to a printer, change the option to save as (or print to on some machines) a PDF document.

Scheduling Interviews​

Once you've been assigned companies to interview with, Epicodus will schedule interviews for you with reasonable travel time between each. You will be provided your schedule in advance of your interviews.

Attending Interviews​

You must attend all interviews at the time specified by your schedule, even with companies that may not be your first choice. If you fail to attend an interview without explicit permission from Epicodus, you risk being withdrawn from the program. Contact us immediately if an unplanned emergency prevents you from attending an interview.

  • For in-person internships, interviews will take place at the company (unless stated otherwise). The address of each company is available on Epicenter.
  • For remote internships, interviews will take place via Skype or Google Hangouts (unless stated otherwise).

Follow-up​

After each interview, we highly recommend sending a brief follow-up email to the interviewer thanking them for their time.

Re-Ranking​

An Epicodus internship coordinator will then contact you and request you re-rank each company you've interviewed with. You will rank your first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on. We may also ask you for feedback on your interview experience in general.

After interviewing, students often find internships they previously ranked lower are actually the internship they're most excited about. Keep an open mind throughout this process!

Internship Assignments​

After all interviews have taken place, we'll compile both company feedback and student rankings. Then we'll do our best to match all students with the best possible internship. Once this process has been completed, you and your classmates will find your internship assignment in Epicenter. Congratulations!

All Internships​

Preparatory Work​

Internship mentors may ask you to complete preparation work before your start date. This could include anything from signing up for accounts on websites they use to learning about a technology you didn't study at Epicodus. However, don't be alarmed if they don't reach out with preparatory work. Some companies prefer to cover these details on your first day while other companies prepare ahead of time. Both are totally normal.

There are generally two weeks of preparation time between the end of your in-class work and the beginning of your internship course. Regular attendance at Epicodus is not required during this period. However, you will be scheduled for a job search bootcamp where you'll make sure your application and portfolio materials are ready for your job search and then meet with your advisor. You'll also want to make sure you're available for all interviews during interview week and that you have some availability the week after interviews just in case you need to attend additional interviews in order to determine your placement. You're encouraged and welcome to continue using Epicodus space for preparatory tasks related to your internship or capstone project, which you'll present to potential employers during the Graduate Showcase.

Working at Internships​

This section details what will occur during your Internship course, including the correspondence we'll maintain with you.

Schedule and Start Date​

By the date specified for your cohort, you will begin the 5-week internship course. Different companies may have different work weeks or hours. Specific schedule information will be provided by your host company. Treat this as a job. That means you're expected to attend each workday of the 5-week period. If illness or unplanned circumstances prevents you from attending a day, call or email your supervisor with as much notice as possible, as you'd be expected to do at any job.

Feedback & Grades​

We'll check in with both you and your internship company weekly to gather feedback, and ensure everything is going well.

Feedback from You​

Each week we'll ask you to provide feedback on your internship experience. This usually includes the following questions:

  • Did you have at least 30 hours per week of programming or programming-related work?
  • Was there an experienced programmer available to you for at least 30 hours per week as a mentor?
  • What is going well at your internship?
  • What could make it better?

If the answer to either of the first two questions is "no", we will immediately contact you and attempt to remedy the situation.

Feedback from Companies​

Each week we'll also ask your host company to provide feedback on the internship experience for them. This usually includes the following questions:

  • Did your intern(s) arrive on time every day? If not, what days did they miss?
  • Did they meet performance expectations?
  • What is going well?
  • What could go better next week?

Responses to the first two questions will be recorded and used to calculate a grade for your internship course. This grade will appear on your transcript. The second two responses are simply to work toward continually improving the internship experience.

Compensation​

The internship is an academic course taken through Epicodus as part of your program. As such, you should not expect your host company to pay you. (Hosts always have the option to do so, but this is decided entirely by them.) Epicodus intentionally collects absolutely no information regarding whether a host company plans to pay interns. This guarantees that potential compensation plays absolutely zero part in the internship matchmaking process.

Resolving Conflicts​

If anything at your internship isn't going right, you don't have to wait until we reach out for feedback. Let us know immediately! The sooner we know about any issues, the sooner we can work with you and your host company to resolve them.

Internship Extensions​

Occasionally companies offer students internship extensions. The first 5 weeks of the internship are required to complete your Epicodus Internship course, as detailed in the Internship Agreement. Any extension beyond these 5 weeks is entirely your choice. It is up to you and your host company to agree on terms and compensation.

If you're offered an extension, and are considering taking it, we strongly encourage you to contact our career support staff to assist in negotiating a fair agreement!

Interviews and Job Offers​

Receiving an invitation to interview or even a job offer during your internship is exciting, but it can also be a little complicated. If you schedule an interview during work hours, please be up front with your internship host. This is a short term internship, and your hosts understand that you will be job searching during the internship period. If at all possible, please let them know 24-48 hours before your interview that you'll be out of office.

If you get a job offer, congrats! We ask that you please try your best to finish out your internship period. If that's not possible, give as much notice as you can. Two weeks is the standard across industries. Please be aware that if you don't give your internship a courtesy notice, they may not give you a good reference. The tech communities in Portland and Seattle are small, so do the best you can to be professional and considerate.

Please let us know that you're planning to leave an internship early due to a job offer before you communicate with your internship host. This keeps us in the loop and allows us to help you communicate with your internship host.